The King of the Nats
by SwimmerMusician
Summary: What would happen if the plane carrying Ralph and the other school boys, crashed somewhere else? Or something along those lines.
1. Disclaimer Intro

Hello. So, for a background, my language arts teacher wanted the class to create a new scenario for the Lord of the Flies, which I happily did and went overboard for. She was proud of my work and said that other people should see it. So here I am. Please critic or comment, for I am open to both.

For disclosures, I do NOT own the Lord of the Flies; which means none of the characters that are original to the book, and because it is technically sort-of close to the actual plot, I don't own that either.


	2. Chapter 1

"Hey! Wait up!" said little Jimmy. "Wait… I can't keep up. My asthma's too bad," he said through heavy, raspy breaths. The boy known as Jimmy was short and fat, with wide rimmed glasses loosely hanging over his small nose. He had short brown hair and grey-blue eyes that gave the hint he was tired. Ralph stopped and waited for the line of fifteen or so boys with tattered clothes and bleeding scratches from the thistles. Ralph was obviously a few inches taller that most of the boys. The twelve-year-old had just started to outgrow his childhood, with his face maturing, but he still had the cheeks of a child. The small line of prepubescent boys slowly gathered toward Ralph. Ralph proceeded forward, but stopped after he heard a small quiet voice behind Jimmy.

"Ralph? Can we stop to eat; we can't keep up with you and Piggy."

"My name is not Piggy, it's…" Jimmy started.

"Shut up Piggy!" said SamnEric. They were twins, about the same age as Ralph with shaggy brown hair and inquisitive eyes. "Let Simon speak."

"Thanks, like I said, we are hungry and tired. Can we please stop to eat?" Simon asked. He was a very frail little boy with pale white skin. He had the appearance that every time someone looked at him, he would fall to the ground dead. Ralph looked around and saw the other boys seemed to agree with him. Even Jimmy seemed a little weak and looked pleadingly to Ralph to stop.

"Alright, we will stop and eat but we have to find a clear area to create an SOS out of rocks or a signal fire. We have to be rescued and waiting around for nothing and doing nothing isn't going to get us rescued." The boys quickly ran around trying to find something to eat. With everyone resting, Ralph took this time to look at their surroundings. They were in a particularly dense area with aspen and birch trees surrounding them. Moss covered almost every surface imaginable. The trees were not so close that light still shone through, reflecting off of the lime green moss, contrasting against the dark evergreen leaves of the trees. Little white dandelion seed lazily floated around and little raindrops rested peacefully on delicate spider webs giving the whole forest a magical feel. The boys managed to find some fruit that smelled putrid but Simon claimed it s edible. Ralph, grudgingly, ate some of the tart red fruit. After ten minutes of eating as much as they could, they continued to look. They managed to find a rough trail.

"Who do you think made this?" Jimmy asked. "Animals?"

"Humans of some sort, I suppose," Ralph answered as the followed the trail. They passed trees with little niches in the bark, and small arrow heads scattered among the forest floor. The little boys rushed to get as many as they could. Deer was thought to have been seen through the bush, but no one felt like meat. They eventually followed the path to a castle. It had a dark stone exterior with dark and burnt flags waving on the top towers. The torches seemed to be lit with an eerie green flame, no to mention the whole castle seemed to have a layer of smoke surrounding it. Still it was a home and they currently did not have any. As they ran closer to the castle, the smell reeking from the stone got worse, causing a few of the boys to throw up in disgust. They continued to climb towards he dark aspen doors, holding their noses a tight as they could. Jimmy urged Ralph to knock on the door. "Well here goes nothing," Ralph said and knocked on the door.

Much to their surprise, it opened, showing a large foyer. It was lined with dark stone with designs of great battles and scenes of history children learn in stories carved into them. Cross beams across the ceiling opened up the whole room substantially. Near the top of the walls, the large windows were lined with steel designs that reflected off of the floor at certain moments. Along the walls were pictures of rulers in decorative wooden frames and weapons upon weapons upon weapons. The great room held chairs and tables made of aspen and deer skin. A line of bookcases at along one wall, filled with books whose leather covers weathered with age and no use. On the other side of the room was a large stone staircase that led to the second floor of the castle. The rest of the walls were riddled with doors that lead to hallways that lead to who knew where. On the back wall of the great room, there was a large stone fireplace that held a fire with warmth that emanated off the walls and created a feeling of a nice hug. Multiple boys rushed towards the fire place to restore their normal temperature while other stared and walked around the room in awe.

"I have seen that man in one of my books, I am sure!" Simon exclaimed pointing to a painting. It was an older man, with a long nose and prudent chin. He had dark brown hair but a light brown beard his eyes had a curious look, as if he were to ask what was being done.

"I think you are confusing him for someone else," Ralph said with uncertainty; his eyes still looking at the painting. After everyone had congregated at the fireplace, Ralph decided to speak.

"We have been granted a great blessing with this castle. But, we have to find if it could really hold us here for a while. We will divide into groups. Simon, you take five littl'uns and go through the east door, or the left door. Piggy, you go through that right door with four littl'uns. SamnEric, you take two littl'uns, yes that means you Johnny, and go through the door straight away. I will go upstairs and try to see what is there. All of you try to note what everything is and where they are." With that, they were off.

The rooms they found held a four poster wooden bed and either crimson or dark purple wool sheets. There was a trunk at the foot of the bed that held either more blankets or papers with illegible handwriting. The rooms Ralph found had closets with nicer clothing that usual and better bathrooms than what the other three groups told him. He believed those were the Royals' rooms and decided the four older kids would stay in those. There was a kitchen on the east side, fully stocked with fresh food and meat drying in the pantry. It led to an enormous ballroom with a great wooden table pushed to one side. The sides and walls of the ballroom resembled the great room in terms of design. On the west side was a creek and a small detached room, presumably for laundry. A library was in the northern side of the castle, lined with ancient books from end to end. There was even a dungeon below, but all of the boys agreed, it was to be used for specific purposes only. When all of the groups were finished telling what they had seen, Ralph raised his hand.

"Alright, we see we are in good hands. The rooms seemed to be stocked with everything we need. We have food and extra clothes. Though the clothes may be too big, it is better than just our uniforms. The older kids will live in the Royals' rooms— no ifs, ands, or buts—and everyone else can sleep in their own room around the castle. It is getting dark out so let's have a feast. The pantry is stocked with fresh fruit and drying meat and we can always eat more from outside. For now, let's feast!" Ralph finally finished. With that final sentence, everyone ran to the pantry and got whatever they could fit into their tiny hands. They rushed into the ballroom to eat and share. After all of the food was eaten, they all started dancing and playing. Originally, it was petty games and small dances, but the intensity quickly got higher and higher. The dances got to the point where kids were almost hitting each other and actually pulling hair out.

"That is enough!" Piggy screamed among the chaos. "You are all acting like savages, pulling hair and making each other bleed. You have to act sensibly. We are English! We are now living in a castle, we should act like royalty. Now listen to Ralph!"

"Uh, Thanks Piggy. Now you all are acting wild and we need to act better. It is rather late now, meaning we should get to bed. So go wash up and find your rooms. Finders keepers! No fights. Good Night," Ralph finished with a yawn. The kids slowly went to their rooms, holding their stomachs. There were few fits, but most found their rooms easily. After throwing up from too much food, everyone slowly go into the sheets of their beds. Once their faces hit the pillows, a deep slumber caressed them and wrapped each and every boy in that castle with a feeling of warmth and hope.


	3. Chapter 2

Ralph awoke to one of the littl'uns poking at his side. He had a rough sleep, complete with the feeling of someone poking and prodding him. Ralph figured it was one of the littl'uns, having a nightmare or getting immeasurably sick. He felt like he had slept for days and could sleep even longer. Yet, when he opened his eyes, the littl'un was still there.

"There is someone here for you. He's really tall with red hair. He looks kind of mean," the littl'un said with caution. He looked around as if the tall red headed boy was following him.

Ralph groggily went down the stairs to the great room, where green candles were being lit by Simon around the room. Everyone was straightening themselves up the best they could, trying to impress the new guest…guests. It seemed the newcomer had brought along his tribe. There were about ten boys overall. They had dark clothes and neatly cut hair. They obviously had cuts and scratches from their crash, but other than that, they were fine. They looked quite a bit nicer than Ralph's larger group, Ralph started to notice when the supposed leader turned around.

"Ah! Are you the leader of this substantial little group?" the newcomer asked. Ralph had already begun to dislike him. He had a think, lanky structure and fiery red hair. He had a serious face with two light blue eyes and scattered freckles around his nose and cheeks. "I expected someone a bit scrawnier with these littl'uns here. But you surprised me. I am Jack Merridrew, leader of my clan. That over there is Roger," Jack said as he pointed to a boy just about the same age as Jack. Roger as a darker figure with a mysterious, child-like face. He was shorter than the rest, filthier, and had a mop of black hair on top of his head. "He's my second in command, though some say he is a bit more ruthless than I am. Otherwise the rest of them just follow what I say. They want themselves and others to stay alive, so they follow the one with the most experience: me. I was wondering what type of government you had here. Do you have a dictatorship, democracy, or a monarchy? I would imagine it would be a monarchy due to the scenery. Your face says no, Democracy then? Your face tells me you have no idea what I am talking about. That's ok, I will help you," Jack finished, not letting Ralph speak. Jack asked one of the littl'uns to take him around the castle and help him learn where everything was, to which the little'un obliged and left Ralph standing there when Piggy came up to him and told him to take a bath in the small creek. Though they just got there, the stench of uncivilized living hung on every inch of the boy's skin. The bath, Ralph had to agree, was calming in an unpredictable world. And the fresh clothes he had managed to grab out of the closet in his room felt comforting, despite the irritable itching sensation as it brushed against his skin. He went back inside to get a drink of hot water and lemon. For some reason, it tasted better than the past foods they have been eating. It tasted almost tart and sweet, but was cooling on the throat.

He went out back where the overgrown garden was and looked outwards. Beautiful thistles and dandelions with purples and yellows, so close together the ground looked like a bed of purple petals where the fairest of all princesses would sleep peacefully. Bustles of white summer wildflowers and lilacs bloomed into quaint little flowers that vaguely resembled a daisy. Violet-blue Forget-Me-Nots were clustered around a small rivulet that branched off of the creek. Different wild flowers of the same color hung like little bells and beautiful pink lilies grew near the Forget-Me-Not's to create a polka-dotted paradise that professional gardeners could only dream about. Camellias bloomed and shone like pink delicate suns near the entrance. But the most predominant and striking area was the vast patch of red poppies. It stretched out on the other side of the rivulet to create an image of a blood filled river. Across the garden was the forest which the boys originally came out of, still emitting a magical invitation that may littl'uns trotted over to take.

Ralph took a deep breath and closed his eyes just to take it all in. But the happiness would not last. A scream erupted out of the east side of the castle. Ralph ran as fast as he could to see whose scream it belonged to. It didn't take long to find the small crouched body, grasping a bright red fruit, shaking violently, screaming his little head off.

"Oh Simon! Couldn't you have eaten something from the pantry? We still have a little bit left from the feast yester-er-a few days ago! Oh Simon! Simon!" Ralph stuttered and exclaimed through tears streaming down his face at an unknown speed. They both sat like that, even when Simon's skin was thought to not get any paler. The crowd of now twenty three boys stood huddled around the sad figures below them and either wept or stood uncomfortably knowing this death would ever be forgotten. Only when Jack put his hand on Ralph's shoulder was when everyone started to dissolve back into the now darker castle.

"C'mon, let us go inside. We have to talk to everyone," Jack said with sadness lingering on every word.

That night, Ralph got everyone together—including Jack and his crew—to discuss what was going to happen next. The room was still lit with the green candles Simon had brought out before. No one had the heart to blow them out.

"Alright," Jack started, "When I first showed up, no one had any system of rules or a government. It is clear to me that we need some sort of organization to help calm down and seize understanding of what is going on. I say we have a democracy. Ralph could be the leader, Piggy his advisor. I can be the leader of materials: food, water, firewood. That way the three main older kids would be in charge equally. I can take my group and four littl'uns with SamnEric as the now 'Hunters" and the rest will ensure nothing wrong goes on inside the castle walls. Are we good? Let us have a vote. All for my plan?" Jack asked without taking a breath. Around the room, hands started to rise. SamnEric were skeptical at first, but reluctantly raised them after hearing they would be hunters. Eventually every hand was raised, except Ralph who was still in awe at what had happened for the second time that day.

"Everyone agrees? Great! We will start tomorrow, for it is getting late now. We shall not eat too much for I heard what happened the last time you ate too much. Off you go!" he finally said. The boys ran off to eat what little was left from the feast before, then went off to bed. Ralph soon joined them to the open gates of slumber, but only after he individually blew out all the green candles.

The next few weeks had attempted to go according to what Jack had predicted. The "Hunters" went out and found as much edible material they could find, including deer. The castle had a form of government where Ralph answered every quarrel from rooms to table duties as best he could. Everything was going ok, but the littl'uns still had nightmares and often neglected their duties to the castle and there was some sort of bug going around. Even through all of this, the boys were somewhat civilized. They only needed a few crucial elements to make it "official". What they did not know was that the approval for civilization was coming quicker than they thought.

Ralph was just finishing the weekly inventory of the pantry. He knew it would have been better to do it when the hunters got home, but he was bored and impatient and decided to get it started. He was just closing the door to the large room when a very flustered littl'un came running in. He had concern and curiosity in his eyes and was quavering ever so slightly, as if he just saw a ghost.

"Have the hunters come back yet?" Ralph asked patiently. The littl'un shook his head quickly. "Well, have the other boys scared you? I thought I told Johnny to stop jumping out of closets!" The littl'un shook his head once more.

"Someone's here," he simply said.

"The hunters?" Ralph asked one more impatiently.

"NO, someone else," the boy replied.

"Rescue?!" Ralph said hopeful. He quickly ran out without letting the littl'un speak, but kept the doors open, allowing the littl'un to run after. When Ralph entered the great room, he saw the hunters. Upon seeing Ralph, Jack immediately walked up to him.

"Looks like we have a visitor," he said with confusion. When Ralph looked on, he did not see the hunters' usual clothing of thick heavy armor they found around the castle. Instead, it was a dark green, silk-like fabric that went from top to bottom. The only weapon Ralph could gather from the first impression was a sturdy wooden bow and arrow. Taking another look, the fabric was not in the form of pants and a shirt. Instead it was in the form of a dress. Ralph stood with the others with his mouth gaping open as the littl'un finally caught up to Ralph out of breath.

"It's a girl."


	4. Synopsis

_Sorry, but at the speed I was writing, it would have taken me years to finish and I was impatient. So here is a synopsis until the end/epilogue._

The boy's tribe found there was a girl's academy plane that crashed on the island with them. Upon visiting, they saw the girls had established their own governmental society and had their caste running at peak form. The girls, specifically their seventeen-year-old leader Emma, had agreed to help Ralph and Jack with their troubles. They started cleaning, cooking better, and caring for the littl'uns when no one else was doing so. The entire time, neither Jack nor Emma are letting Ralph talk or reply to their questions. Eventually, the sickness and the stress get to the boys and an extreme stomach bug virus infects many, including Piggy. The infected get put into the dungeon for quarantine, but it quickly overflows. Jack wants to kill the virus at the source, or a few littl'uns while Emma just wants more humane ways of treating the illness. They continue to fight about how they should treat the illness while it gets worse. Finally, Jack wins, and says they will kill the illness by letting them bleed. Emma and her clan got all the non-infected boys and hid them in a dark, underground bunker they found and promised to return when it was safe.


	5. Epilogue

Ralph woke to bright white lights. It took him a minute to adjust his eyes to the new environment, but when he did, he saw he was not in the bunker Emma had put him and the other littl'uns in. He also saw the littl'uns were gone. He went to find the necklace Emma had given him, only to find it was gone as well. In its place was a soft blue-and-white cotton hospital gown. He quickly sat up, confused.

"What happened to the bunker?" Ralph thought. Around him was the pristine setting of a Hospital room, with white everything, blue paper materials, and silver knobs and handles. Across from his bed as a girl in dark green scrubs and long auburn hair tied into a ponytail on the top of her head. She was intently reading the charts at the end of his bed.

"Emma?" Ralph asked silently. The girl whipped her head around in surprise. Her light blue eyes widened and her mouth gapped open slightly.

"Dr Merridrew!" she screamed as she ran out of the room. Ralph just sat there confused by what had happened. "Dr. Merridrew! Dr. Merridrew!" he continued to hear as Emma ran throughout the hospital.

"Dr. Merridrew!" Emma gasped, out of breath, once finding the tall doctor."Doctor, he's awake. The patient, the really sick one, he's awake!" she finished in between breaths. The doctor's eyes widened as he started back the way Emma came.

Ralph sat in his bed bored, wondering what was going on. He was inspecting the strange cord inserted in his arm when Jack clamored into his room, followed by a team of other doctors and nurses alike. They all stared at Ralph in wonder and suspense.

"Emma, what's going on?" Ralph asked skeptically. Everyone suddenly released their breath and their mouths curved into a wide smile.

"Roger, complete the vitals check, now that we can do a complete one. Emma, when did he wake up?" Jack asked as the doctors did what he said.

"Just now. I was reading his charts, he said my name, and I went to find you," She replied.

"Alright, he just came out of the three month coma and the vitals seem fine. Blood looks cleaner after transplant and the nose bleeding stopped. His hair growth has returned to normal and the vomiting stopped a few weeks ago," Jack concluded while the doctors around the room wrote it down on metal clipboards. Ralph just sat on his bed with a confused face, asking Jack for an explanation with his eyes. Jack smiled and answered.

"Well because the last time we met you, you were unconscious, let me introduce myself. My name is Doctor Merridrew, your infectious disease doctor. I have cleared all of the 'bad stuff' out of your blood and will be taking care of you for a few more weeks before you go to a normal pediatrician. That man over there is Roger. He is like my…"  
"Second in command," Ralph finished for him. "Some say he's a bit meaner that you are. That's Emma and she helps you do things right. She came with a few other girls like her, but she says they all hate the clothes they were given," Ralph finished. Emma stood looking down at the floor with her face flushed. Jack looked at her with a face that asked "Really?" Then his expression quickly turned into confusion.

"How did you know all of that?" Jack asked.

"Emma told me. She told me everything. She told me what was going on around the castle, how they were treating me, what everyone was wearing and doing, what she believed you were doing wrong or right, and how to take care of both myself and everyone else," Ralph said with certainty. Emma's face grew to a dark crimson as she stared a where but Jack's eyes. Jack meanwhile, while trying not to laugh, was wondering were exactly he went wrong, so a nursing assistant would have had to correct him. It was true that they had their spats, but they were usually about treatment. Suddenly, Emma looked up.

"Wait, does that mean you heard everything I told you in that coma?" she asked hopefully. Ralph nodded. "Well, thi- I mean- This is a revelation! Dr. Merridrew, that means he was not as fully unresponsive while he was in that coma! He must not have been poisoned as the others!" she barely stuttered out.

"Wait, are Piggy and Simon still alive? What about the other littl'uns with the stomach virus? Are they still alive?" Ralph asked excitedly. Piggy could still be alive, his only friend in that castle could still be alive, and Simon who could have another chance. "Did you pick them up at the castle like you did for me? Were they still vomiting and bleeding from the treatment? Are they still wearing the armor we found?" Ralph continued, early bouncing out of his seat. Nurses had to hold him down as he maneuvered his way around, trying to see out of his widow. Jack and Emma looked at each other quizingly.

"We found you at the bombing site in Scotland three months ago," Jack said slowly. "You and everyone else had severe Radiation Poisoning and needed to be sent to the hospital right away."

"You must have hallucinated everything the whole time. Large amounts of radiation could create a whole new environment through hallucination," Emma added. "As for Piggy and Simon, you are the only one left. Simon died a while back and we never found a 'Piggy". The closest to that would be Jimmy Anderson, but he died almost a week ago."

Ralph was traumatized. The figures of his only friends had been real and dead, while everything else had been a fake. All the adventures he had experienced were an imaginary story and never happened. Tears slowly started to stream down his face. Everything he knew was a lie. He started to bawl only after Emma had said two more words in the silence-filled hospital room.

"I'm sorry."


End file.
